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Old Buzzards Newsletter January 2016 oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com

oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com

The Present At the time of writing, Buzzards

stand 9th

(of 14) in South West 1

East. The win over Grove lifted us to

the giddy heights of 3rd

however a

tough run of fixtures over and

around the festive season have seen

a mild decline. Upcoming fixtures

for the remainder of January and

February are as follows:

30th

Jan Newbury (H)

13th

Feb Swindon (A)

20th

Feb Trowbridge (H)

Full SW 1 East details can be found

at www.rfu.com

Current standings after round 17:

Pts

Towcestrians 70

Salisbury 58

Newbury 55

Witney 55

Maidenhead 49

Oxford Harlequins 48

Swindon 47

Windsor 45

Leighton Buzzard 41

Trowbridge 32

Grove 28

High Wycombe 23

Reading 20

Swanage & Wareham 10

Welcome! So here it is, off the ground at last the first of hopefully a monthly newsletter

with the aim of re-connecting former players of LBRFC with the club. For those

of you that didn’t receive the initial email let me first explain what this will be all

about.

The Club has always been pretty good at keeping the interest and support of

good numbers of former players but some always fall through the net, thus it

has been decided to make a concerted effort to mend the holes and this

venture is the first attempt to do that. I will start by saying what it isn’t. It

won’t harry and hector you into becoming members of the 100 or 200 Hundred

Clubs or to lay it on heavy about becoming a Vice-President, these decisions will

be yours and yours alone. Ideally what we would like to achieve is to coax a few

long-lost or infrequent visitors back to the Club in the odd Saturday afternoon

and early evening at Wright’s Meadow. My idea is that these scribblings should

reflect the content of the old match day programmes of the halcyon days of

editors John Tarbox, Ralph Harper and Graham Blower. No-one will be safe and

solicitor’s letters will be ignored! On the lighter side, upcoming events and 1st

XV fixtures will be mentioned.

The dedicated email address suggests a concentration on the decades of the

80s and 90s though they are just a starting point. This publication is intended to

be a broad church. The reason why we decided the 80s and 90s would be the

era on which we should concentrate is that other decades are pretty well

catered for. Dilly does a sterling job with those from the 60s and 70s, (punting

for near-term business methinks). Those from the noughties being more recent

tend to look after themselves, the 80s and 90s less so.

Finally, this newsletter will become fairly repetitive and tedious if it were to be

restricted to my memories and musings thus I would like to encourage all of you

to make contributions. Anonymity will be fiercely protected when required. In

these high tech days scanning a photo or old programme page and tapping out

a few words of back story are so much easier than back in the day so I look

forward to your full co-operation.

Tools

The Future 24 years on from its first appearance on the Leighton Buzzard social circuit, the

Summer Ball is still a thriving concern. This year’s event will take place on

Friday 3rd

June. If you would like to host a table please contact the club steward

Dave Pearson on 01525-371322 or buzzardrugbydave@googlemail.com

Each October one of the pre-match lunches is defined as the Former Players

Lunch. Obviously until this season is over and the fixtures for 2016-17 are

announced we cannot be sure of the exact date. You will be informed as soon

as the date is known. For now just remember not to nominate October as your

“dry” month for 2016.

Leighton Buzzard RFC

Wright’s Meadow

Leighton Road

Stanbridge

Bedfordshire, LU7 9HR

President: Mr M. Hardy

Chairman: Mr G. Fletcher

Steward: Mr D. Pearson

Tel: 01525-371322

www.buzzardrugby.co.uk

The views offered in this publication do

not necessarily reflect official LBRFC

opinion or policy.

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Old Buzzards Newsletter January 2016 oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com

It’s that time of year again … February and March mean just one thing – The RBS 6 Nations. 7 weekends of international rugby that prove how crap

we are when compared to the Southern Hemisphere. I asked a panel of experts how they feel the tournament will turn

out for each participant, they told me to f*** off so I had to do it.

England

New coach, new start, same worries. Unless Sir Jonny accepts Jones’s offer the coaching team looks too Saracenic for

me. Quins and Wasps apart, the Aviva Premiership has been turgid. Jones isn’t that much of a messiah, remember he

used to pick Wendell Sailor instead of Joe Roff when coach of Australia. A new looking squad still doesn’t answer the 12

and 7 conundrums. Tuilagi still seems to be regarded as the silver bullet to make England hit the target instead of a

player that can’t pass, won’t pass, removes any shape from the back line who should have No. 23 written all over him.

It’s going to be a long winter for England fans. Prediction: 5th

.

Scotland

Was their RWC performance a portent of things to come? Or will it be same old, same old. For years coaches must have

loved planning to play Scotland. It was all so easy. “When they have the ball let them keep it, they always drop it

eventually then just do what we did in training and we’ll win. Right, I’m off to the golf course”. That they only have two

matches at Murrayfield could hamper them, especially if they lose first up against England. However they won’t and

with that momentum will beat France at home too. A win in Rome will be enough to see them finish 3rd

.

Ireland

Argentina confirmed what I’d felt all of 2015, i.e. that Ireland are not as good as people think they are. That said, Joe

Schmidt is worth 10 points and they’re lucky because he’ll never get injured. Their midfield surely doesn’t scare anyone.

Payne and Henshaw are a million miles away from O’Driscoll and D’Arcy. Rob Kearney is their stand out back but they

need Zebo/Earls and Bowe to show some better form than they have in recent times or Sexton will have to do it all on

his own, and he doesn’t cope that well when that is the case. A clever tactical coach may nullify their forward threat

too. Prediction: 4th

Wales

It hurts like hell to say it, but they will win the tournament at a canter. May not be a Grand Slam but they have the

personnel and the nous. Even with half of the squad in Isleworth A&E they had too many smarts for England’s thickos

on the pitch and off. If they only suffer two-thirds of the injury crisis that hit them in the World Cup they will have too

much for the other teams. George North hasn’t shown much for Northampton this year, but that’s because they’ve

been shit. Watch him go for Wales.

France

Can I answer a question on Differential Calculus instead? Prediction: 1st

, 2nd,

3rd

, 4th

or 5th

.

Italy

Oh Sergio, Sergio, Sergio. You are so majestic. How much longer can you carry them? This will also be the first 6

Nations not to feature Mauro Bergamasco who has finally retired, probably to go and punch wolves in the woods. If

they could find a 10 with 40% of Sergio’s talent they could contend. Perhaps Tommy Allan could just be that if they

stopped chopping and changing. If they are to get a “W” they’ll have to win early before inevitable injuries expose their

lack of depth. I don’t think they will. Prediction: 6th

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Old Buzzards Newsletter January 2016 oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com

Photographic Evidence A selection of photographs donated from various archives. Do you remember where you were?

Snork! From Bletchley RUFC 60th

Anniversary History

Looks like one of those photos you used to see

in the barbers. Is this one a Marcel Wave?

Did you ever play at Twickenham

dad?

Well,

judging by this evidence from the programme for the

1960 Middlesex Sevens Finals, yes he did!

Easter 1989 – Teignmouth Obviously the 1

st XV. Bonus point question: Who played scrum half?

Back: Steve Butters, Chris Garner, Graham Blower, Barry Gee, Gerry

Kelly, Kelvin Healy, Trevor Hall, Jocky Scourfield, Ralph Harper. Front:

John McDougal, Barry Williams, Mario Marrone, Pete Arthur, John

Colleran, Stefan Swift and Eric Cohen.

The Golden Season 1994-95

Very difficult to find the words to describe THAT season.

The Lyrics Corner No room for the medley or “American Pie” this month, but plenty for a

heartfelt ballad I’m sure we all remember

“Hi diddly dunk, let’s all get f*****g drunk” © A. Turney, 1979

Only 13 years before the royalties dry up Alban!

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Old Buzzards Newsletter January 2016 oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com

Lets Talk Storage! - with Sean Heatley

And finally … You may feel that spending huge chunks of the year bathed in sunshine in the south of Spain is a fairly good example of

living the dream. You may be right, but it’s not all sun, sangria and orange blossom.

Spare a thought for our man on the spot Nick Watkins. Over the Christmas period an intruder broke into his property and

stole every mirror, fixed and free-standing. I’m sure you will all join me in passing deepest condolences to Nick for his loss.

We know you must be hurting Nick, and we are with you. Chin up mate.

“Hello everyone, Sean here. You

would not believe how many times I’m

asked for my advice on wardrobes

cupboards and all other types of

bedroom storage systems. For some

reason I seem to be seen as some kind

of expert. Well though I hate to blow

my own trumpet I have to admit that I

am.

Firstly let me point out the no-nos.

Firstly it should not have an outside

lock. You don’t want to find yourself

unable to escape. It’s also not a good

idea to select one with legs unless you

are under 8 stone. The unit must be as

flat to the floor as possible to take the

weight of an average adult. Glass

doors are not advisable as you are

bound to be spotted.

So what are we looking for? A good

solid unit. Batons on the inside that

enable you to pull doors shut behind

you. Ideally you should be able to

stand fully upright or be able to

crouch comfortably. Internal shelf

units for the storage of socks,

undercrackers and tee shirts can

restrict movement and comfort.

In my view you can’t beat than the

Mantis Light Natural Solid Mango

Triple Wardrobe from Oak Furniture

Land. Current online price £649.78.

Happy hiding, Sean”

The Ikea Nornäs—Fails on

almost every level

according to Sean

Captain Charity rides again

Many of you will be aware of several charity bike-a-thons

undertaken in recent years by Rod “King of the Derailleurs”

Keating.

Well, he’s at it again. In April he sets off on his greatest

challenge in the Houghton Regis to Damascus charity cycle

ride.

Unfazed by the fact that the English Channel gets in the way, “I’ll

just walk that bit” he says, his journey will take him across

Europe and then through the Kurdish strongholds in Turkey

before heading into Syria and on to Damascus via the Raqqah

ring road

“It’ll be tough, but we reckon Rod’s the man to meet the

challenge” said organizer Perdita Thring-Fullerton. “We hope

all those that know him and even those that don’t will

support him all the way especially as he is the only volunteer

we’ve had thus far”.

You can make your donation via the website www.hope-his-

brakes-don’t-fail-in-the-Alps.com

How good is your memory? Which former 5

th XV captain would post team

sheets in which every player from 1 to 15 was

named Gillespie in order to prevent other sides

taking his players? (Clue: His name rhymes with

“Todgers”)

Acknowledgements Thanks go to John McDougal and Tony Guerrieria

for their contributions to this first issue.

As time goes on and it hopefully takes hold the

contributions will come rolling in so we can go

beyond the bare four pages and I don’t have to

make so much stuff up. Initial feedback has been

positive as regards the concept so get those

cuttings, photos and stories rolling in to

oldbuzzards80s90s@gmail.com.

One thing that needs changing is the title. “Old

Buzzards Newsletter” is naff and needs replacing.

Suggestions please.